Black Labrador Retriever Puppy In Training!

One of my favorite times of month is our monthly Orange County Guide Dogs of America puppy raiser meeting. This month we had several new puppies including this little black Labrador Retriever puppy in training!

It reminds me of my first meeting with Stetson over 6 years ago! He wasn’t our first puppy, but we certainly learned a lot about how to train a puppy with Stetson. In fact Stetson taught us a lot about crate training puppies as he was by far the most difficult puppy to crate train…he cried for nearly 4 weeks straight and didn’t let me sleep for more than 2 hours in a row during that first month.

Black Labrador Retriever Puppy In Training

Stetson A Former Puppy In Training

Stetson never made it as a guide dog, but he has had many adventures since his start as a guide dog puppy in training. He’s achieved his Canine Good Citizen, he’s become proficient at finding Birch in his K9 Nosework training, and he’s great at keeping my feet warm late at night. Of course Stetson is also a great product tester for the many doggy product reviews we do right here on the puppy in training blog.

Not all of our guide dog puppies in training will become working guides, but those that do not still have a great career ahead possibly as Search and Rescue Dogs, Service Dogs, Therapy Dogs, or as someones trusted pet just like Stetson.

What about you guys? Have any of you raised your puppies to do a job? Tell us about what your puppy is up to in the comment section below.

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About Colby

Colby Morita is a puppy raiser for Guide Dogs of America and has been raising and training puppies for 8 years. He's been writing to the PuppyInTraining.com blog and sharing his puppy training tips from his experiences as a guide dog puppy raiser since 2007.

Yep! Stetson loves his job as a household pet. We’ve also been thinking about getting him involved as a therapy dog because he’s really good at cuddling. Passing his Canine Good Citizen was the first step.

My Pitbull Parris is a snuggler and since puppyhood has been a therapy dog. She goes and visits folks in the nursing homes and hospital They are all always surprised she is a Pitty, so doing some good for the breed and for others as well.

Stetson is adorable!!! He looks like a mini version of a dog I made a portrait for. It has become my favorite work and every time I look at it I want one! But Stetson is not just a pretty face… he’s got skills!

My GSP was really similar to Stetson in that he just didn’t quite make it as a good bird dog which is what he was trained for but my disappointment quickly faded when he became about the best house dog we have ever had.